Halloween 2009

Halloween ended up being a great night for our family and a great way for me to relax after my test. Anna cooked a great meal, Ellie and Charlie were darling in their angel and devil costumes, and the whopping three houses we went trick-or-treating at were welcoming and ready for us with lots of chocolate for Miss Eleanor. We really should've gone to more houses, I know, but #1) it was raining, #2) Charlie got bored, and #3) Charlie was just getting over the H1N1 flu, while Ellie was having her worst night with it, herself. Kids are such troupers, though. There's not a living soul who could convince me to don a red flannel head-to-toe body suit while fighting a fever.

Do you think any of the uber-Christian southerners were offended that I dressed my 16 month old as a devil? I sure hope not. Cutest devil they've ever seen, though, yes?

Oh, and the top picture is of the kids iChatting on the computer with Mahgie and Grampy back home in Pasadena. What a wonderful invention!

I Love My Sister

I took my big test all Halloween day long. I rushed home at 4pm, quickly ate lunch, relieved Joe from kid-duty, and shuttled the family over to Anna's house for dinner and trick-or-treating. It was a rushed, stressful day. I walked into Annie's house, though, to find a whole batch of cupcakes lined up just for me on her dining room table....they spelled "CONGRATULATIONS" in candy and icing. I love you, Nina.

Family Fun-Day Sunday

The Sunday before my big CSCS test (for which I studied over 6 months; so glad it's over; gosh, I better have passed), I decided that I'd had enough with the books and figured that my family had probably had enough of my studying and half-present state of mind. So, we skipped all errands that day, studying, chores, even church (naughty) to be at home and hang out with each other. And as it was the week before Halloween, we carved pumpkins all morning long with the kids. Ellie LOVED the process; we'd been reading a book all about picking out and carving jack-o-lanterns for a while, so she really understood the process and got a kick out of the whole thing. Charlie enjoyed his balloons. Maybe next year he'll be more into the pumpkins.

Home from a Weekend Away

Two or so weeks ago was my brother-in-law's birthday...John was celebrating his 30th with family and friends in Vegas. Joe and I had originally planned to leave the kids at home with a sitter and join in the adult festivities, but with all of the travel and change we've been through this year, we decided just stay home. We already had the baby sitter booked (our sweet family friend, and now surrogate Grammy on the East Coast, Cindy McAlpin), so Joe and I decided to stay home in Charlotte but take advantage of a weekend away from home and the kids. We went really, really far...8 whole miles down the road to stay at John and Anna's house in their guest room while they were away in Vegas=). It really sounds silly, I know, but it was just perfect. We didn't have to do the whole hotel thing and eat every meal out, but we still managed to get away and have a nice kid-free, romantic weekend "away." Not so romantic...we went to our first NASCAR race that Saturday night. We met up with some friends and their brand new fifth-wheel trailer and occupied a prime spot in the Lowe's Motor Speedway infield. What an experience!!!....Redneck paradise. I thought I would hate it...I LOVED every minute of it. First tractor wagon rides, now infield at the NASCAR race...we are becoming true Southerners, for sure!

When we got home at the end of our weekend "away," we came home to find Ellie in the same princess dress we'd left her in two and a half days earlier. It was the one way I could think of distracting her when we left, and it was Cindy's way of keeping Ellie pleasant throughout most of her time in charge. Once E gets one of those dresses on, it is WORSE than pulling teeth to get it off of her. The princess dresses are pretty much banned from my house...they live at Auntie Noni's house...and this is not because I am evil; rather, it is because I refuse to let my child attend school dressed at Sleeping Beauty...I'm thinking it might be somewhat of a distraction for the other kids in her class.

Miss Cindy is the most amazing woman and surrogate Grammy for my little ones. She made homemade applesauce while she was here for my diarrhea-ridden children, she left homemade soup in our crock-pot fresh made for Joe upon our return home, she brought coloring books, stickers, pumpkins, toys, sewing projects...anything and everything with which to entertain and spoil the Borchard family. Apparently, she and Ellie had decorated pumpkins with neon stickers over the weekend, but as soon as I walked in the door, Ellie decided that those stickers would look really cool plastered all over our faces. See above pictures.

Ellie's Heaven

Ellie had the single greatest day of her life a few weeks ago when my sister and I took her to Disney on Ice. We started with a breakfast in a little coffee shop/bar (strange combo, I know) in Uptown Charlotte...she was so well-behaved, munching away on a buttered bagel atop a suede covered stool (she slipped off about 10 times, but she tried very hard to fit in with the hip, swank adult crowd. Then, it was off to the arena for a little slice of Ellie heaven. We saw all of her favorite princesses, she felt gorgeous sporting her Cinderella gloves the whole time, and she even got to pick out an extravagantly priced silly souvenier...she came home with a plastic sparkly Snow White doll. Hey, at least it wasn't one of the 15$ snow cones! Annie and I just loved peeking over at Ellie throughout the show...she was positively GLUED! Once the show was over, we headed out for a girls' lunch at Panera. Ellie was being so good that day (and really, why wouldn't she be?!) that it truly felt like a nice lunch out with two of my girlfriends. It was a full, fabulous day. I can't remember if she napped when we got home, but for my sake, I sure hope she did.

The Snarl of All Snarls

Rough night, Eleanor??

Embracing Life in the South

The hours between 4 and 7 pm are what we fondly call "The Witching Hours" in our household...the kids are muy difficult, whiney, and naughty without fail towards the end of every day. My Redneck Wannabe hubby, however, has come up with the greatest solution...the tractor wagon ride. The kids LOVE it! He drags them around our yard in one giant circle around the house over and over again, while Charlie drags his hand along the muddy wheels and Ellie stares up at the sky making herself dizzy the whole time. Amazingly, the process usually kills an entire very difficult evening hour.

Recently, Ellie started expressing a waning interest in the wagon ride, much to her Daddy's dismay. Joe was crushed! Resourceful man that he is, though, Joe came up with a perfect solution...the "Halloween Wagon Ride." He changed the name of the whole affair, included a longer stop at the front porch to admire the Halloween decorations along each trip around the house, plus a very small detour over to the small wooded area beside our house, designated "The Spooky Forest." I have a feeling we'll be doing "Halloween Wagon Rides" well into the Christmas season=).

Doggy Style Ice Cream Sandwich

We went over to the Moores' for dinner the other night for Jimmy's send-off to Santa Clara. We stuck Charlie in his highchair and gave Ellie an ice cream sandwich to eat on the floor beside my seat in the hopes that it might keep her quiet just long enough for me to gobble up my dinner. About 30 seconds into her delicious treat, she started whining and screeching about her dirty hands. My solution of a napkin to wipe up with was totally insufficient. So, Ellie came up with her own solution: lay down on the floor and lap it up with her tongue like a dog. At least her hands were clean!! Dinner went off without a hitch after that.

Huntington Children's Garden

My dearest friend at home, Natalie, and I took our little ones to Huntington Gardens to visit their relatively new children's garden. Wow! What a stuningly gorgeous spot...and so much fun for the kids, too. There were water pots with water spitters, music makers with rocks, magnet dust, water falls, a mini-stream, a mist room, and a tunnel/cave to crawl through. It was perfect. The kids had a ball! And you should have seen how FILTHY Charlie was by the end of it...muddy, muddy bottom half from rolling around in the muddy puddles. Oh, and do you like his new "gorilla crawl?"...he's figured out how to hang onto his favorite mode of locomotion without tearing up his knees. And what about Ellie's 4T suit that I bought her at Target?...it'll probably fit her in about 3 years! Oh well, she thinks she looks mighty fine in it.

A Tea Party for One

I swear, sometimes our visits home to Pasadena end up being full of darling little Norman Rockwell moments like this one. I came back to my parents' house after getting my hair done last Saturday to find Ellie and my mom hanging out in the front yard together. My mom was up on the front porch reading magazines and doing a crossword puzzle, while Ellie was sitting on a blanket on the front lawn having her own little tea party with her new tea set. She's getting to be so big and independent these days. I love that we can let her play on her own outside now...she's even allowed to go unsupervised upstairs and downstairs to and from her room to "read" as she pleases. Visits to my parents' are so much more enjoyable now that I only have to watch one child like a hawk around all of Mahgie's pretty knick-knacks. That Charlie is one heck of a tornado in my mom's house, though (he more than makes up for Ellie's good behavior)!

Good 'Ol Grampy

The kids have always loved Grampy, but there was just something really special about their last visit with him that was extra special. The three of them did some serious bonding.

Every single one of these pictures captures a moment where I just walked into the den to find the kids having a special moment with Dad. One day, Ellie refused her nap (which seems to be an almost every day occurrence now...ugh!), so she passed out in the stroller on our late afternoon walk up to Lake Ave. for coffee. I brought her home and plopped her in the living room to play with her toys, only to walk in 15 minutes later to find her as fast asleep as she's ever been in her whole life in her Grampy's lap. They were just rocking back and forth together when I found them. We couldn't even wake her up from that slumber for a trip outside to the ice cream truck passing by! Talk about a good sleep. I also came in another day to find Ellie following Grampy, doing her version of each of his yoga stretches right by his side. Too cute. That incident quickly turned into a wrestle-fest as soon as Charlie waddled into the room and joined in on the action.

Love you, Dad.

Mahgie Lost Her Cleaning Lady...

My mom lost her housekeeper a few months back....thank goodness Charlie came to town to pick up the slack! The kid LOVES brooms, mops, pool skimmers...anything with a stick he can push back and forth for endless hours. So, on our last visit to Pasadena, we decided to put him to work. Grampy cut the Swiffer down to size, and off he went!

Late Night at the Ballpark

I'm sure I've mentioned a time or two before that my kids are absolutely not on "baseball schedule." Only once this summer have I let them stay for an entire game; we're usually out of there by the 4th inning, with babies in bed by the 6th inning or so. A couple of my girlfriends convinced me to stay for a full game a couple of weeks ago, and it was so worth the horribly cranky kids the next day. We had a ball! Ellie got her first ice cream cone...what a mess! And best of all, the kids and all of their little friends got to go down on the field after the game to run wild. Charlie had just started walking; it was darling to watch him wobble and toddle all over that field. Ellie darted all over the place, mostly just sprinting in one big circle the entire time...she took spill after spill, but just kept right on going. She was a WRECK the next day; I swear Joe and I paid for it for the next three days with her, really!

That night, too, Joe had no idea that we'd stayed for the entire game; he'd assumed we were long gone when he finally came out of the clubhouse. We waited for him in the players' parking lot to say a quick hello before all heading home, but he never came up to the lot, as the field hands were putting on a taco dinner for the players back behind center field. We saw him walking away, so I yelled out his name to get his attention. My friend, Sissy, and her three girls chimed in calling his name, too. All of our yelling freaked Ellie out, and she immediately yelled out in tears, "I need Gold Car!" We have a gold Tahoe, which she calls "Gold Car," and I guess she was so startled that she just wanted to get in the car and hide in safety. We calmed her down, got Joe's attention, and enjoyed a quick hello before heading home. Apparently, the moment really stuck with Ellie, though, because now at random times throughout the day she'll yell out, "Joe Borchard...Joe Borchard!!!" as loud as she possibly can. Now I'm the one getting startled...guess it's payback.

Once an Accessory Whore, Always an Accessory Whore!

Look at how I found my daughter on two separate days. She doesn't just like accessories, she LOVES them. And more of them she can wear all at once, the better! Too bad she can't get all of those shoes on at the same time...at least she can line them all up, stare at them, admire them, and try them each on one at a time. Imelda Marcos in training!

Fresno Farmers' Market

Every Friday evening in the summers here in Fresno, there is the most darling Farmers' Market in my gym parking lot. There's live music, great food, tons of kids, and best of all....free face painting and balloon animals. We went two Fridays ago with my friend Sissy Wood and her three girls. Ellie followed "The Big Girls" around like a lost puppy dog the entire evening. I enjoyed some lovely adult conversation with Sissy, while Charlie just took in the sights and sweated like a BEAST! That kid is a space heater!...just look at those pink cheeks in this picture. Fresno heat makes the poor guy miserable...though you can't tell by the giant grin behind his paci.

Ellie kept a purple smear on her cheek (the pathetic remnants of her butterfly) for about three days after the big event. I finally forced her to rub it off once it started looking like I'd socked her in the cheek.

In Touch with his Fairy Side

Just trying on some of his sissy's goodies. My angel=)

Ellie's 1st Laptop

Great Grandma and Great "Popeye" Sones sent Ellie the coolest gift EVER....her very own laptop! Amazingly, she knew how to work the thing immediately. The only problem with the darn thing is that it's educational (which Ellie LOVES), but it's also kind of mean to her when she makes a mistake (Ellie HATES making mistakes). You should see the fits this toy induces!! She only lasts about ten minutes with it a day before her brain get so tired from all of the work with letters and numbers that she starts making mistakes and getting reprimanded by the harsh British voice coming out of it. At that point, I have to jump in quick to remove the device before it gets forcefully chucked across the room by a sassy, seriously stressed-out redhead!

Charlie's 1st Burger

Another big milestone in Charlie Borchard's life: his first taste of a fast-food burger! Joe has been taking the kids sometimes in the mornings to go on "Adventure Daddy." He takes them to Home Depot, Target, etc, while I stay home to study...it's been wonderful for me. The kids have LOVED the extra special alone time with their Daddy, too. You should see how attached Charlie is to him now!

One morning a couple of weeks ago, Joe took just Charlie for an excursion to run some errand, and they stopped to pick up some lunch for Joe on their way home. Joe decided to give Charlie the last couple of bites of his burger to munch on during the drive home...I think it was a last ditch effort to shut off the whining (C is a whining champ). Anyway, the kid LOVED it! Just look at that smile!...such a carnivore.

Dress Update

Just a quick note before I move onto my next blog posts: You will not see anymore pictures of Ellie in the Sleeping Beauty gown anytime soon. I am a TERRIBLE mommy, and you may report me to Child Protective Services if you feel the need; I hid the gown from her. It just, without explanation, disappeared to a very high shelf in her closet. She asks about it occasionally, but I just lie and inform her that I'm just as perplexed as she is by its disappearance. I'm awful! She just wouldn't take it off, though! It's 110 degrees here in Fresno every day...long-sleeved polyester dresses are just not appropriate...no matter how sparkly and beautiful they might be.

More from the Cabinet Cuties

The apartment got way too quiet for a few minutes yesterday afternoon while I was cleaning up the kitchen, so being the "smart" mom that I am, I knew something was up. They had to be up to something. And now that they're such a devious duo, I knew it could be dangerous. I bursted into our master bedroom bathroom, only to find the two of them peeking out from behind a cabinet door each with GIANT grins on their faces. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen. I, obviously, couldn't catch that moment on camera, but I got a few of the play that continued for long after my discovery of their "fort."

Yep, yep, the dress AGAIN.

Pizza, Pizza

Baseball games are SO much better for the Borchard crew when the grandparents are in town. Just look at the in-stands entertainment Ellie was provided with this past Sunday! And there's the proof...she's worn that darned dress to every one of Joe's games since!

"See, I Can Dress Up, Too!"

Our little king, donning his crown and Elmo backpack. He's picking up the dress-up habit from his sister. This could be dangerous.

Donut + Church = A-OK

Church doesn't seem to be a ton of fun for our kids yet. They're shushed and told to sit still for an hour straight by two parents way-too-freaked-out about what others think of their parenting skills=). It all changed this past Sunday, though, when Mimi insisted on a post-mass donut for Ellie. She picked it out herself...coconut, eeew!...and was in absolute heaven.

Oh, and check out the Snow White high heels with the church dress. Hey, at least I got her to match them to her outfit!

Introducing THE dress!!

Ellie's Mimi brought her a fabulous gift on the second day of their visit to Fresno last weekend...a real Disney Princess gown from Target...Sleeping Beauty! Ellie was in absolute awe upon pulling in out of the bag. Immediately, she donned the dress. Let's see, that occurred on Sunday of last week, and today is Thursday, so that means that she's been wearing the darn thing for FIVE days straight now! I cannot get it off of her! The kid even sleeps in it! She wears it to daycare at the gym every morning, she wears it when we run errands, she wears it to Joe's games, and she even wears it to bed. Ugh. It was cute at first, but now we're just over it. I did manage to snatch it from her one evening, so that I could run it through the wash to remove the soup from the front and the small poop smear from the back. Joe even asked me if I could help him get it off of her today before he agreed to take her on a trip to the Home Depot with him...he admitted that he might just be slightly embarrassed by the whole thing! Hah!